While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
"Tell me," said, Hiatu-we-noken-chah, or 'woman of the
night,' "the Great Spirit whom you have taught me to fear, why
has he made the white woman rich and happy, and the Dahcotah
poor and miserable?" She spoke with bitterness when she
remembered the years of sorrow that had made up the sum of her
existence.
But how with the missionary's wife? had her life been one
bright dream had her days been always full of gladness her
nights quiet and free from care? Had she never longed for the
time of repose, that darkness might cover her as with a mantle
and when 'sleep forsook the wretched,' did she not pray for the
breaking of the day, that she might again forget all in the
performance of the duties of her station? Could it be that the
Creator had balanced the happiness of one portion of his
children against the wretchedness of the rest? Let her story
answer.
Her home is now among the forests of the west. As a child
she would tremble when she heard of the savage whose only
happiness was in shedding the blood of his fellow creatures. The
name of an "Indian" when uttered by her nurse would check the
boisterous gayety of the day or the tedious restlessness of the
night.
As she gathered flowers on the pleasant banks of the Sciota,
would it not have brought paleness to her cheek to have
whispered her that not many years would pass over her, before
she would be far away from the scenes of her youth?
And as she uttered the marriage vow, how little did she
think that soon would her broken spirit devote time, energies,
life, to the good of others; as an act of duty and, but for the
faith of the Christian, of despair. For several years she only
wept with others when they sorrowed; fair children followed her
footsteps, and it was happiness to guide their voices, as they,
like the morning stars, sang together; or to listen to their
evening prayer as they folded their hands in childlike devotion
ere they slept.
And when the father returned from beside the bed of death,
where his skill could no longer alleviate the parting agonies of
the sufferer: how would he hasten to look upon the happy faces
of his children, in order to forget the scene he had just
witnessed. But, man of God as he was, there was not always peace
in his soul; yet none could see that he had cause for care. He
was followed by the blessings of those who were ready to perish.
He essayed to make the sinner repent, and to turn the thoughts
of the dying to Him who suffered death on the cross.
But for months the voice of the Spirit spoke to his heart;
he could not forget the words "Go to the wretched Dahcotahs,
their bodies are suffering, and their souls, immortal like thine,
are perishing. Soothe their temporal cares, and more, tell them
the triumphs of the Redeemer's love."
But it was hard to give up friends, and all the comforts
with which he was surrounded: to subject his wife to the
hardships of a life in the wilderness, to deprive his children
of the advantages of education and good influences, and instead
to show them life as it is with those who know not God. But the
voice said, "Remember the Dahcotahs." Vainly did he struggle
with the conflict of duty against inclination.
The time has come when the parents must weep for
themselves. No longer do the feet of their children tread among
the flowers; fever has paralyzed their strength, and vainly does
the mother call upon the child, whose eyes wander in delirium,
who knows not her voice from a stranger's. Nor does the
Destroyer depart when one has sunk into a sleep from which there
is no awakening until the morn of the resurrection. He claims
another, and who shall resist that claim!
As the father looks upon the still forms of his children,
as he sees the compressed lips, the closed eyes of the beings
who were but a few days ago full of life and happiness, the iron
enters his soul; but as the Christian remembers who has
afflicted him, his spirit rises above his sorrow. Nor is there
now any obstacle between him and the path of duty. The one child
that remains must be put in charge of those who will care for
her, and he will go where God directs.
But will the mother give up the last of her children? it
matters not now where she lives, but she must part with husband
or child! Self has no part in her schemes; secure in her trust
in God she yields up her child to her friend, and listens not to
the suggestions of those who would induce her to remain where
she would still enjoy the comforts of life. Nothing should
separate her from her husband. "Entreat me not to leave thee;
where thou goest I will go, where thou diest I will die, and
there will I be buried."
And as the Dahcotah woman inquires of the justice of God,
the faces of her children rise up before her first in health,
with bright eyes and lips parted with smiles, and then as she
last saw them their hands white to transparency, the hue of
death upon their features; the shrouds, the little coffins, the
cold lips, as she pressed them for the last time.
The Dahcotah looked in astonishment at the grief which for
a few moments overcame the usual calmness of her kind friend;
and as she wondered why, like her, she should shed bitter tears,
she heard herself thus addressed.
"Do not think that you alone have been unhappy. God
afflicts all his children. There is not a spot on the earth
which is secure from sorrow. Have I not told you why? This world
is not your home or mine. Soon will our bodies lie down in the
earth and we would forget this, if we were always happy.
"And you should not complain though your sorrows have been
great. Do not forget the crown of thorns which pressed the brow
of the Savior, the cruel nails that pierced his hands and feet,
the desertion of his friends, his fear that God his Father had
forsaken him. And remember that after death the power of those
who hated him ceased; the grave received but could not keep his
body. He rose from the dead, and went to Heaven, where he has
prepared a place for all who love him; for me and mine, I trust,
and for you too, if you are careful to please him by serving him
yourself, and by endeavoring to induce your friends to give up
their foolish and wicked superstitions, and to worship the true
God who made all things."
The Dahcotahs believe in the existence of a Great Spirit,
but they have very confused ideas of his attributes. Those who
have lived near the missionaries, say that the Great Spirit
lived forever, but their own minds would never have conceived
such an idea. Some say that the Great Spirit has a wife.
They say that this being created all things but thunder and
wild rice; and that he gave the earth and all animals to them,
and that their feasts and customs were the laws by which they
are to be governed. But they do not fear the anger of this deity
after death.
Thunder is said to be a large bird; the name that they give
to thunder is the generic term for all animals that fly. Near
the source of the St. Peters is a place called Thunder-tracks
where the footprints of the thunder-bird are seen in the rocks,
twenty-five miles apart.
The Dahcotahs believe in an evil spirit as well as a good,
but they do not consider these spirits as opposed to each other;
they do not think that they are tempted to do wrong by this evil
spirit; their own hearts are bad. It would be impossible to put
any limit to the number of spirits in whom the Dahcotahs
believe; every object in nature is full of them. They attribute
death as much to the power of these subordinate spirits as to
the Great Spirit; but most frequently they suppose death to have
been occasioned by a spell having been cast upon them by some
enemy.
The sun and moon are worshipped as emblems of their deity.
Sacrifice is a religious ceremony among them; but no
missionary has yet been able to find any reference to the one
great Atonement made for sin; none of their customs or
traditions authorize any such connection. They sacrifice to all
the spirits; but they have a stone, painted red, which they call
Grandfather, and on or near this, they place their most valuable
articles, their buffalo robes, dogs, and even horses; and on one
occasion a father killed a child as a kind of sacrifice. They
frequently inflict severe bruises or cuts upon their bodies,
thinking thus to propitiate their gods.
The belief in an evil spirit is said by some not to be a
part of the religion of the Dahcotahs. They perhaps obtained
this idea from the whites. They have a far greater fear of the
spirits of the dead,especially those whom they have offended,
than of Wahkon-tun-kah, the Great Spirit.
One of the punishments they most dread is that of the body
of an animal entering theirs to make them sick. Some of the
medicine men, the priests, and the doctors of the Dahcotahs,
seem to have an idea of the immortality of the soul but
intercourse with the whites may have originated this. They know
nothing of the resurrection.
They have no custom among them that indicates the belief
that man's heart should be holy. The faith in spirits, dreams,
and charms, the fear that some enemy, earthly or spiritual, may
be secretly working their destruction by a spell, is as much a
part of their creed, as the existence of the Great Spirit.
A good dream will raise their hopes of success in whatever
they may be undertaking to the highest pitch; a bad one will
make them despair of accomplishing it. Their religion is a
superstition, including as few elements of truth and reason as
perhaps any other of which the particulars are known. They
worship they "know not what," and this from the lowest motives.
When they go out to hunt, or on a war party, they pray to
the Great Spirit "Father, help us to kill the buffalo." "Let us
soon see deer" or, "Great Spirit help us to kill our enemies."
They have no hymns of praise to their Deity; they fast
occasionally at the time of their dances. When they dance in
honor of the sun, they refrain from eating for two days.
The Dahcotahs do not worship the work of their hands; but
they consider every object that the Great Spirit has made, from
the highest mountain to the smallest stone, as worthy of their
idolatry.
They have a vague idea of a future state; many have dreamed
of it. Some of their medicine men pretend to have had
revelations from bears and other animals; and they thus learned
that their future existence would be but a continuation of this.
They will go on long hunts and kill many buffalo; bright fires
will burn in their wigwams as they talk through the long
winter's night of the traditions of their ancients; their women
are to tan deer-skin for their moccasins, while their young
children learn to be brave warriors by attacking and destroying
wasps' or hornets' nests; they will celebrate the dog feast to
show how brave they are, and sing in triumph as they dance round
the scalps of their enemies. Such is the Heaven of the
Dahcotahs! Almost every Indian has the image of an animal or
bird tattooed on his breast or arm, which can charm away an evil
spirit, or prevent his enemy from bringing trouble or death upon
him by a secret shot. The power of life rests with mortals,
especially with their medicine men; they believe that if an
enemy be shooting secretly at them, a spell or charm must be put
in requisition to counteract their power.
The medicine men or women, who are initiated into the
secrets of their wonderful medicines, (which secret is as sacred
with them as free-masonry is to its members) give the feast
which they call the medicine feast.
Their medicine men, who profess to administer to the
affairs of soul and body are nothing more than jugglers, and are
the worst men of the tribe: yet from fear alone they claim the
entire respect of the community.
There are numerous clans among the Dahcotahs each using a
different medicine, and no one knows what this medicine is but
those who are initiated into the mysteries of the medicine
dance, whose celebration is attended with the utmost ceremony.
A Dahcotah would die before he would divulge the secret of
his clan. All the different clans unite at the great medicine
feast.
And from such errors as these must the Dahcotah turn if he
would be a Christian! And the heart of the missionary would
faint within him at the work which is before him, did he not
remember who has said "Lo, I am with you always!"
And it was long before the Indian woman could give up the
creed of her nation. The marks of the wounds in her face and
arms will to the grave bear witness of her belief in the faith
of her fathers, which influenced her in youth. Yet the subduing
of her passions, the quiet performance of her duties, the
neatness of her person, and the order of her house, tell of the
influence of a better faith, which sanctifies the sorrows of
this life, and rejoices her with the hope of another and a
better state of existence.
But such instances are rare. These people have resisted as
encroachments upon their rights the efforts that have been made
for their instruction. Kindness and patience, however, have
accomplished much, and during the last year they have, in
several instances, expressed a desire for the aid and
instructions of missionaries. They seem to wish them to live
among them; though formerly the lives of those who felt it their
duty to remain were in constant peril.
They depend more, too, upon what the ground yields them for
food, and have sought for assistance in plowing it.
There are four schools sustained by the Dahcotah mission;
in all there are about one hundred and seventy children; the
average attendance about sixty.
The missionaries feel that they have accomplished
something, and they are encouraged to hope for still more. They
have induced many of the Dahcotahs to be more temperate; and
although few, comparatively, attend worship at the several
stations, yet of those few some exhibit hopeful signs of
conversion.
There are five mission stations among the Dahcotahs; at
"Lac qui parle," on the St. Peter's river, in sight of the
beautiful lake from which the station takes its name; at
"Travers des Sioux" about eighty miles from Fort Snelling; at
Xapedun, Oak-grove, and Kapoja, the last three being within a
few miles of Fort Snelling.
There are many who think that the efforts of those engaged
in instructing the Dahcotahs are thrown away. They cannot
conceive why men of education, talent, and piety, should waste
their time and attainments upon a people who cannot appreciate
their efforts. If the missionaries reasoned on worldly
principles, they would doubtless think so too; but they devote
the energies of soul and body to Him who made them for His own
service.
They are pioneers in religion; they show the path that
others will walk in far more easily at some future day; they
undertake what others will carry on, what God himself will
accomplish. They have willingly given up the advantages of this
life, to preach the gospel to the degraded Dahcotahs. They are
translating the Bible into Sioux; many of the books are
translated, and to their exertions it is owing that the praise
of God has been sung by the children of the forest in their own
language.
However absurd may be the religion of the Dahcotahs, they
are zealous in their devotion to it. Nothing is allowed to
interfere with it. Are their women planting corn, which is to be
in a great measure depended upon for food during the next
winter? whatever be the consequences, they stop to celebrate a
dance or a feast, either of which is a part of their religion.
How many Christians satisfy their consciences by devoting one
day of the week to God, feeling themselves thus justified in
devoting the other six entirely to the world! But it is
altogether different with the Dahcotahs, every act of their life
is influenced by their religion, such as it is.
They believe they are a great people, that their country is
unrivalled in beauty, their religion without fault. Many of the
Dahcotahs, now living near Fort Snelling, say that they have
lived on the earth before in some region far distant, that they
died, and for a time their spirits wandered through the world
seeking the most beautiful and delightful country to live in,
and that after examining all parts of, the earth they fixed upon
the country of the Dahcotahs.
In fact, dreams, spells and superstitious fears, constitute
a large part of the belief of the Dahcotahs. But of all their
superstitious notions the most curious is the one which
occasions the dance called Ho-saw-kah-u-tap-pe, or Fish dance,
where the fish is eaten raw.
Some days since, an Indian who lives at Shah-co-pee's
village dreamed of seeing a cormorant, a bird which feeds on
fish. He was very much alarmed, and directed his friend to go
out and catch a fish, and to bring the first one he caught to
him.
The Indian did so, and the fish, which was a large pike,
was painted with blue clay. Preparations were immediately made
to celebrate the Fish dance, in order to ward off any danger of
which the dream might have been the omen.
A circle was formed of brush, on one side of which the
Indians pitched a wigwam. The war implements were then brought
inside the ring, and a pole stuck up in the centre, with the raw
fish, painted blue, hung upon it.
The men then enter the ring, almost naked; their bodies
painted black, excepting the breast and arms, which are varied
in color according to the fancy of each individual.
Inside the ring is a bush for each dancer; in each bush a
nest, made to resemble a cormorant's nest; and outside the ring
is an Indian metamorphosed for the occasion into a wolf that is,
he has the skin of a wolf drawn over him, and hoops fixed to his
hands to enable him to run easier on all fours; and in order to
sustain the character which he has assumed, he remains outside,
lurking about for food.
All being ready, the medicine men inside the wigwam
commence beating a drum and singing. This is the signal for all
the cormorants (Indians), inside the ring, to commence quacking
and dancing and using their arms in imitation of wings, keeping
up a continual flapping. Thus for some time they dance up to and
around the fish when the bravest among them will snap at the
fish, and if he have good teeth will probably bite off a piece,
if not, he will slip his hold and flap off again.
Another will try his luck at this delicious food, and so
they continue, until they have made a beginning in the way of
eating the fish. Then each cormorant flaps up and takes a bite,
and then flaps off to his nest, in which the piece of fish is
concealed, for fear the wolves may get it.
After a while, the wolf is seen emerging from his retreat,
painted so hideously as to frighten away the Indian children.
The cormorants perceive the approach of the wolf, and a general
quacking and flapping takes place, each one rushing to his nest
to secure his food.
This food each cormorant seizes and tries to swallow,
flapping his wings and stretching out his neck as a young bird
will when fed by its mother.
After the most strenuous exertions they succeed in
swallowing the raw fish. While this is going on, the wolf seizes
the opportunity to make a snap at the remainder of the fish,
seizes it with his teeth, and makes his way out of the ring, as
fast as he can, on all fours. The whole of the fish, bones and
all, must be swallowed; not the smallest portion of it can be
left, and the fish must only be touched by the mouth never with
the hands. This dance is performed by the men alone their war
implements must be sacred from the touch of women.
Such scenes are witnessed every day at the Dahcotah
villages. The missionary sighs as he sees how determined is
their belief in such a religion. Is it not a source of rejoicing
to be the means of turning one fellow-creature from a faith like
this?
A few years ago and every Dahcotah woman reverenced the
fish-dance as holy and sacred even too sacred for her to take a
part in it. She believed the medicine women could foretell
future events; and, with an injustice hardly to be accounted
for, she would tell you it was lawful to beat a girl as much as
you chose, but a sin to strike a boy!
She gloried in dancing the scalp dance aye, even exulted
at the idea of taking the life of an enemy herself.
But there are instances in which these things are all
laid aside beneath the light of Christianity; instances in which
the poor Dahcotah woman sees the folly, the wickedness of her
former faith; blesses God who inclined the missionary to leave
his home and take up his abode in the country of the savage; and
sings to the praise of God in her own tongue as she sits by the
door of her wigwam. She smiles as she tells you that her "face
is dark, but that she hopes her heart has been changed; and that
she will one day sing in heaven, where the voices of the white
people and of the converted Dahcotahs, will mingle in a song of
love to Him 'who died for the whole world.'"
The books presented are for
their historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Dahcotah, Or Life and Legends of the
Sioux around Ft. Snelling
